


Into Dimension X

by HolyKingWasteLand



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: <3, Comfort, Episode Fix-it, Episode Related, Episode: s02e24 Into Dimension X, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Michelangelo (TMNT), Hurt/Comfort, Infection, Long, Minor Injuries, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Beta Read, PTSD Michelangelo (TMNT), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rated For Violence, We Die Like Men, i love you guys stay safe, if there's something triggering please let me know so i can tag it!!!!, infected wound, injuries, like this took me over twelve hours, no graphic details of wounds, nothing triggering I think??, older!Michelangelo, since Dimension X time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21573142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolyKingWasteLand/pseuds/HolyKingWasteLand
Summary: What if Mikey was really in Dimension X for a lot longer than "a few hours"?
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT), Donatello & Michelangelo (TMNT), Leonardo & Michelangelo (TMNT), Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 244





	Into Dimension X

**ONE DAY IN.**

Stepping through the portal, Mikey opens his eyes to see a brand new world. He looks behind him, moving away as he expects his brothers to follow, but the portal closes and he's left alone. He feels his heart restrict slightly as he breathes deeply through Donnie's device.

Where were his brothers? Why weren't they here by now? Why was the portal closed?

Thoughts hit him at rapid fire. He remembers his brothers being upset at him for rushing head-first through the portal, but he was sure they'd follow soon after....

Maybe they don't care about me.

No, of course they do, they're probably just.. preoccupied. Maybe the portal was faulty? Donnie will get it up and running in the next couple hours and they'll go save Leatherhead together!

He waits on that island. He hears creatures howling and screeching from all around him, he has no idea what to do. Does he wait here for his brothers, who may never show up? Does he leave and risk the chance of them showing up while he's gone?

He stays there for hours, before finally standing up.

“I'll stay nearby, in case they decide to show up.” He mumbles to himself, nodding despite the doubt in his heart. He moves towards the edge of the island, peaking over the side. A small fluffy creature looks up at him, smiling and chirping. “Awww, you're not so scary, huh?” He reaches out to it and tries to pet it, when its teeth turn razor sharp.

He lets out a little scream and jumps back; the small creature jumps up and crawls closer to him. Mikey scrambles backwards, hearing the snapping of the creature's teeth chomping together threateningly.

“E-easy boy..” He attempts to soothe, but the creature pounces on him. Mikey screams bloody murder and wrestles with the thing, trying to keep it from biting him. It gets a lucky shot and _chomps_ right into his left shoulder.

Pain shoots through him, and with a sharp jab of his kusarigama into the thing's side, it finally relents its attacks.

It lays on the ground, bleeding out from its side, and watches Mikey with pleading eyes. He's conflicted. He knows what he has to do, but does he have the strength to do it?

Pulling the kusarigama from its stomach, he swallows thickly and slices its neck open; effectively ending its life.

He breathes heavily, watching this poor – probably hungry – creature dead by his hand. He feels tears come to his eyes, and he chokes on the bile that rises in his throat.

Mikey turns away from the horrific scene and tries to gather his bearings. He goes to the other side of the island for a few hours, and when he returns, the thing is gone; only a bloody trail left behind.

* * *

**ONE WEEK IN.**

His shoulder is sore, an infection settled in, and he has no way of stopping it. He can barely fight like this, he's got a fever, and can't think.

Michelangelo has since figured out the gravity of this dimension. He nearly fell off the island once, but it seemed to pull him back to the underside of the island. That's how he learned to not be scared of falling- it's nearly impossible.

In a crazy fever-filled haze, he decided that his best course of action would be to find better food than the grubs on his island.

He's attempted jumping from island to island, and it works like a breeze, but the first time he used his nunchaku to make sure he made it. The weapons ended up tugging on his injured shoulder too much, and in the end, it turns out he didn't need his weapons at all; the weird gravity makes it super easy to travel.

Donnie would probably have a bunch of science-y words to describe the gravity of this place.

“Donnie..” He breathes into the warm air. He misses his brothers so much, probably Donatello most of all. But they're not here. He shakes his head of all the negative thoughts. No time to think of that, he's got dinner to find.

In this dimension, everything is out to get you. Even the plants, with how limited they are.

He found a fruit tree – or what he assumed was one – and picked some fruit. He ended up giving one to a nearby creature, similar to the one that attacked him on the first day. It took the fruit and ate it happily, eyeing Michelangelo every so often, almost to see if he was going to eat as well.

He eventually gave into hunger and picked a fruit for himself, biting into it.

The taste was sweet, so so sweet, like the richest fruit you've ever tasted – times ten.

He ate happily, and the fruit filled him up after only a few mouthfuls. Once full, he found himself falling into a deep slumber, fears and common sense are thrown out the window.

When he wakes up, the little critter is licking at his infected shoulder and squeezing the fruit nectar on his wound. He cries out in pain, but the little thing holds him down with surprising force.

Pain is at the forefront of his mind, and he eventually succumbs to unconsciousness again.

Hours, or days go by before he wakes up. But when he does, his shoulder feels so much better, and the little creature is there, offering him a fruit. It appears that the critter saved him from the infection, and that the nectar of this unknown fruit has some kind of healing properties.

He and the creature left on good terms, each going their own way on different islands, but every time he went back for more fruit, the little creature was waiting for him.

* * *

**TWO MONTHS IN.**

Time seems to fly by, and although he can't keep track – they don't exactly have days, the time never changes – he just uses his body clock to at least try.

He meets all kinds of bad things, but the only one he cares to remember is the Rocktopus. It seems harmless at first, just a little mount of rock with a cute frog-like face. It almost tricked Mikey the first time, but when it tried to then chase and eat him...

It wasn't something you forget.

He managed to get away from it and it lost his trail, but he was still tense and terrified afterwards.

He goes days without talking now, he sometimes forgets that he can, but it's just safer not to. He doesn't have anyone to talk to anyway, unless you count the Kraang; which he doesn't.

He can feel the drowsiness kicking in, which means it's turning into another day. He begins making his way back to his original island. There's still no word from his brothers, and the Kraang are getting more and more active every day.

He has managed to thwart their plans a few times and stop them from doing anything too dangerous, but there's not much else he can do other than steal their stuff.

He rubs his eyes sleepily and jumps from one island to the next. He's back in only minutes, and lays down behind a large rock.

The temperature never changes, always just a bit hotter than comfortable, and the light never goes away, making it somewhat easier to fall asleep. He's never afraid of the dark here, because it's never dark. He only fears going to sleep and being killed, so he sleeps with one eye open (not literally).

His sleep doesn't come easily, despite the light. He's constantly terrified. What if he gets killed before his brothers show up? What if he gets captured by the Kraang, or he's not here when his brothers arrive and they get killed?

His terror keeps him alert, keeps him alive.

* * *

**ONE YEAR IN.**

Sighing, Michelangelo picks a fruit for himself. His little furry friend hasn't shown up today, so Mikey expects the worst. He places a fruit down on the ground, just in case the thing decides to show up later, but he's doubtful.

It's been a year – or around that long – if his calculations are correct. Still no brothers. He shakes his head, pulling the skull down over the top half of his face. He adjusts his belt and straps, moving a few crystals around as he does so. They chime softly, making the mutant turtle smile.

He clears his throat and croaks into the open air, “I am Michelangelo Hamato.” His voice is scratchy from his lack of use, and his body hurts everywhere, but he keeps going. He has some Kraang to stop.

Mikey adjusts the straps on his arms and jumps island to island, landing near-silently, his breathing is slow and purposeful.

He manages to get into the Kraang base without being noticed. He's as silent as a shadow, every move is strong and calculated. Nothing like how he used to act.

He gets in, steals whatever they're working on now, and gets out. A successful stealth mission, if he says so himself.

Once back on his own island, he throws the tech into a little hole he dug, filled with other bits of Kraang technology that he's been holding for Donnie when he gets back.

He freezes, wide eyes staring down at the hole.

Donatello. That's a name he hasn't brought himself to talk about in... months at least. Raphael.. Leonardo.... He feels tears come to his eyes. God, why now? Why after so long?

Mikey falls to his knees, allowing the tears to fall silently. When were they coming to save him? Did they even care about him anymore? What did he do wrong?

His cries die down after a few hours, and he lets himself fall into a nightmare-filled sleep.

* * *

**ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS IN.**

Mikey is so tired. He doesn't want to do this anymore. The Kraang keep coming, so do all the bad things that want him dead. He's got scars that he knows his brothers will ask about, and a long gash in his left arm that never healed properly, thanks to his limited medical supplies.

Donnie was gonna have a field day with that. Raph would probably commend him for his battle scars, and Leo would be disappointed that he didn't protect himself better.

Oh well, they're not coming. He's officially given up.

He sits on a surrounding island to his own, handing out on a rock, deciding how to spend his day, when he hears a warping sound.

He looks around for the noise, and sees a purple portal appear on his island.

Crouching down, he watches it for a moment, before three mutant turtles step out onto the island.

Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo.

Why does it hurt so much to see their faces here? He wants to run to them, to shake them and ask them why it took so long, how they could just _leave him_ here for almost a year and a half.

But he waits.

Raph takes initiative after almost being crushed by the giant sky worm. He jumps from the starting island to a much bigger one, shouting the whole way, before landing smoothly – much better than Mikey did his first time.

It almost makes him feel bitter, but then Raph is calling out to the others, telling them to hurry up, and they follow.

Mikey follows at a distance, jumping where they can't see him.

They jump from island to island, never suspecting that they're being followed. They get the hang of it quite quickly, and Mikey smiles fondly. The smile doesn't last, as they're almost killed by the flying electric ball worms.

He runs towards them, almost shouting to draw the attention away, but then Leo lifts Donnie up and they stay silent, so Mikey does as well. It seems they've figured them out as well, much quicker than he did... maybe he's not as cool as he thought he was..

There's an explosion and Mikey laughs gently, seeing Donnie make the same mistake he did all those months ago. He jumps from island to island once again, following them closely.

They smash into the floor of their next island and Mikey snickers behind his hand. They get up and keep running and jumping until they reach a certain island. Oh no. No no no-

He runs as fast as he can, but it's too late, Leo is talking to it, petting it. _Leo don't-!_

It stands up and starts chasing them, sending them over islands and islands. Donnie is almost stomped on when Mikey wraps him up in a long purple cord (from his grapple-bug) and yanks him out of harms way. Then Raph is pushed out the way, and finally Leo.

They all end up in a pile on the floor, groaning with pain, and Mikey stands in front of them protectively. “Stay away from my brothers!” His deeper voice never wavers, his fully white eyes and his stance give off something threatening.

“Mikey?” Leo gasps, utterly confused.

Michelangelo screams in such a way that confuses and disorients the beast, making it cry out in pain and thrash about. He throws the shards expertly into its eyes, shouting, “Buzz off Rocktopus!” as he does so.

Mikey laughs and shouts as he flings himself up and kicks the Rocktopus's little alien lure friend right in the face. The creature goes down, falling off of the island and into endless sky, as Mikey lands easily on the ground.

“You're okay!” Donnie exclaims as they run to him. Leo puts his hand on Mikey's shoulder, which Mikey looks down at and then back into Leo's eyes, confused as all hell.

“We were worried about you.” The leader says before Mikey gently shrugs him off, crossing his arms.

He wants to feel mad, but they seem genuine, so he plays along.

“What took you so long? I've been here for _months._ ” He says, shaking his head teasingly. He's hurt, but by the looks of confusion and shock on their faces, he can tell something weird is going on.

“Months?..” Leo asks, as Donnie scratches his chin. Okay, back-pedal time, something's wrong here.

“O-or maybe a few hours.” He amends, looking down at the ground, disappointed. “I don't have a watch.”

“But we went through the portal like fifteen seconds behind you!” Raph exclaims, taking Mikey aback. Fifteen seconds? No, no it's been so much longer than that. How could it have only been so short for them? Does that... oh god.. does that make him the oldest??

“Obviously time passes quicker here than in our own dimension.” The smartest of the turtles says, and Mikey nods along. That much _is_ obvious, but now he doesn't know how to feel. He wants to be angry, but he can't, because they did nothing wrong. He chose to go in without them, and they followed straight after...

The Rocktopus is back, but Mikey manages to scare it off with a scream and a growl.

“How did you-”

“We gotta get moving; that thing's gonna come back and we have to save Leatherhead!” Mikey interrupts. “Oh! Better stock up on bang-rocks.” He jumps up to the tree and hangs upside down. He vaguely hears Donnie telling him to be careful; but with a specific tone of voice, he manages to collect the bang-rocks without harm.

“How did you do that?” Asks a flabbergasted Donatello.

“A lot of stuff here responds to sound.” Mikey replies, dropping back down beside them. He hands them a grapple-bug each, and shows them how it works.

They each fly up to the next island and face-plant, whereas Mikey lands fine. He chuckles at them.

“How did you learn how these bug things work?”

“It just seemed sort of obvious?” Mikey cops out, ignoring the many memories of mistakes he made with certain things. It was honestly an accident finding out how to use these things, an almost deadly accident.

He still has a scar on his cheek from that experience.

“Mikey, you're like a genius here!” Raph cheers, but Mikey doesn't feel the same. It was lots of trial and error, and stupid mistakes along the way.. but he'll play along just for their sakes.

“Hey, in crazy backwards land, crazy backwards _dude_ is king.” He smirks before squirting some of its green fluid into his mouth. “They're tasty too!” He sees their looks of disgust, but when you're stranded without water, you gotta make do.

“So lets go rescue Leatherhead!”

* * *

**PRESENT TIME. ONE YEAR, FIVE MONTHS AND A FEW HOURS IN.**

Dropping through the portal, Mikey manages to snag a power crystal for Donnie. They climb up onto the roof, and Mikey tells him as much.

“Mikey, you are a genius!” His brother laughs, but Mikey just feels cold at the statement.

“Not anymore..” He mumbles to himself. “Now I'm just back to regular mess everything up Mikey.”

“No way! Saving that power-cell was brilliant.” His (no longer) eldest brother compliments, and Mikey smiles in return. “And you did that here.”

Yeah, he did, didn't he?

“Yeah, I did!” He tries for enthusiasm, trying to keep up this act for his brothers. Don't make them worry. They continue talking about the Kraang, but Mikey silently watches the darkened sky.

They decide to go home now, and honestly Mikey nearly cries at the thought. An actual soft bed? A decent meal? _Sensei?_ God, he wants to hug his brothers so badly, but he knows they'll be annoyed at him, so he holds back.

When they get back, Splinter greets them with a surprised look. “When did you four leave? And I thought Leatherhead had been kidnapped?” He asks, utterly confused- especially by his youngest's outfit.

Donnie begins explaining, and when it gets to the fact that Mikey was gone for “hours” in Dimension X, they all look at him. He's staring straight at Splinter, taking in everything.

“My son?” Splinter prompts gently, and Mikey walks closer, slowly inserting himself into Splinters arms. He holds Michelangelo comfortingly, and the turtle has to hold back tears. “You are alright, Michelangelo.”

He doesn't say anything, but he holds his son's face, looking at the litter of scars, both small and big, that he's sure were never there before.

“You were there hours, while it had only been seconds here?” Splinter asks, and feels Mikey tense, but nod. He's not telling him the truth, or at least he's not telling him everything.

There's no way he got so many scars in a few hours.

“Very well. All of you, go clean up, eat some food and get to bed.”

All four turtles nod before making their way to the bathroom. Mikey hesitates, but follows his brothers in. They each shower in a separate cubicle and Mikey finally gets to use soap and water to clean himself.

He takes a long shower, really scrubbing himself down of all the dirt, goo, and Kraang matter that's been stuck to him for so long. When he finally comes out and dries himself off, his brothers have already left.

Taking a deep breath in, and then out, he goes to the kitchen.

Oh how he missed this place. He runs his hands over the counter, smiling softly as memories filter back from a better time, before Dimension X.

He hears someone enter the room, and spins around, nunchaku at the ready. Raph raises his hands, eyes wide, and Mikey quickly puts them down.

“S-sorry dude! You startled me is all.” His heart is pounding, and Raph doesn't look so convinced, but the other two enter, and the freak-out is forgotten. He sits down, bread and meat placed in front of him, and he watches with wide eyes.

He waits for everyone to get seated, including Leatherhead and Splinter, and then waits for someone to start their meal. They say a word of thanks, and then all start eating- except for Mikey.

Mikey sits patiently, stomach curling and aching to eat, but he's.. scared.

“Mikey?” Donnie asks from beside him. “You gonna eat?” Mikey looks up with wide eyes and then looks back down at the food.

“C-can I?”

Everyone pauses. They look at their youngest with confused eyes.

“Of course you can Mikey, why would you ask that?” Donnie places a hand over Mikey's own, but it's only there for a second, since Mikey pulls away and begins taking stuff to eat. He doesn't say anything, so everyone awkwardly goes back to eating after a few moments.

Mikey picks at his meat and salad sandwich, only eating small bites, rather than his previous mode of just inhaling everything in sight.

Something's up with Mikey. Everyone is thinking it.

He knows that they know something's up. So at the earliest he can (half a sandwich eaten) he excuses himself and heads to his room.

The halls are so familiar, but so distant in his memories. He makes it to his room and although he's exhausted. He begins cleaning up.

He wouldn't be able to fight anyone or anything in here, and it's only a matter of time before that happens, he won't be safe forever. It takes him barely an hour before everything is done and dusted. He immediately collapses on his bed, and falls asleep.

* * *

_He's floating. That's the first thing Michelangelo notices. He's floating in an endless sea of pink. Dimension X maybe? He can't be sure, especially since there's nothing as far as the eye can see. Just pink sky._

“ _What a moron.” He hears Raphael say in disgust._

_What? No- no he's not a moron-_

“ _He can't do anything right, even the simplest of tasks.” Donatello sneers, and Mikey looks around for him, but he's alone._

_No... no he's... he can...._

_Leo simply sighs in disappointment._

……

_Hearing his brothers say these things breaks his heart. He knows he's not the smartest, they tell him enough times for him to know he's far on the other end. He's not the strongest, Raph makes sure to tell him at any chance he can. And he knows he'll never be as focused as Leo._

_He sighs, feeling all the warmth being ripped from him, but it's not as much of a shock as he thought it would be. He feels...._

Cold.

Mikey's eyes open and he's greeted with his semi-light room, thanks to the night-light that Donnie put together for him. He looks over at his alarm clock. It feels weird to be able to tell the time again, but he's grateful- so so grateful.

It's not even five in the morning. His body is naturally waking up, and he knows he can't fall back asleep, so he goes to the dojo.

He takes his nunchaku, sneaks past his brothers' bedrooms and slips unnoticed into the dojo. He begins with stretches, easing his stiff limbs into movements, stretching farther than he used to be able to.

That was one thing he had to keep up in Dimension X; the stretching. Constantly on the move and having to run around in weird wacky gravity? Not doing stretches was like signing your death wish.

Finished with his stretches, Mikey breathes deeply, getting into first kata. With clumsy movements, he begins re-training himself.

For almost a year and a half, he was forced to use other kinds of fighting techniques to stay alive. Ninjitsu was logical, and Dimension X didn't do logical. He had to use his own fighting style: crazy, backwards and weird.

So suddenly coming back into this dimension and having to fight the enemies of _this_ world, he figures that re-learning his art would be as good a start as any.

He's in there for no longer than thirty minutes when Leo shows up.

“Wha-? Oh, good morning Mikey.” Leo greets, sounding a bit surprised. Mikey hums a good morning back but never stops doing his katas. He's on the sixth one now, and he's doing well.

Leo doesn't say anything else, just begins stretching, and then gets straight into his katas as well.

They train for another thirty minutes or so before Master Splinter, Donnie, and Raph arrive. They're all equally shocked to see Mikey in the dojo before them, but no one says anything as they each get to work.

They practice their katas for over an hour, before Splinter decides they should do some hand to hand sparring. Raph grins, Leo smiles, and Donnie sighs heavily. Mikey doesn't know how to feel. He's always loved sparring with his brothers, but he doesn't really remember their fighting styles like they remember his.

They have the upper advantage. Both in fighting him, and in the fact that they're used to Earth's gravity, while Mikey is still having trouble adjusting.

“Michelangelo and Leonardo will go first, and then Donatello and Raphael will go next.” Splinter instructs, watching his sons put down their weapons and get into position. “Hajime!”

Mikey starts on defence, waiting for Leo to make the first move, which comes quicker than expected. Leo pounces at him, and Mikey side steps, thrusting out his hands to push Leo away.

The blue masked turtle stumbles but regains his footing and sends a kick back at Mikey, hitting him in the chest. What none of them expect is for Mikey to take the kick without moving, and then violently twist Leo's foot, sending him crashing to the floor.

Leo might be on his back on the floor, but he's not out just yet. He spins himself on his shell with his legs and arms out, effectively tripping Mikey.

Mikey's brain whites out. _Danger danger danger-_ he can't think, he can't breathe-

He stands up, his eyes white, and his whole body going on auto pilot. His back is to Leo for only a moment, giving the turtle time to stand up.

Then, he turns around.

They all see the difference. This isn't the Mikey they used to train with, this is someone else. Someone... scarier, more cold calm and collected in battle.

Mikey can't see any of them anymore, he can only see pink sky, smell the dead Kraang, hear its footsteps getting closer.

He has to change up his fighting style to deal with these guys.

He takes a deep breath in, before getting back into a stance, he doesn't say anything. He throws himself at the Kraang, taking it by surprise as he lifts him up by his legs and slams him into the ground.

“Mikey!” A voice shouts distantly. He looks around for the voice, but then focuses in on the Kraang that's shuffling away from him, making a robotic wounded sound.

“Raph, hold him down! Leo, get out of the way!” Suddenly, he's being held down on the ground, he can't see what's holding him, but he fights.

He struggles and he grunts and snaps his teeth at them, but then he feels a prick in his neck, and suddenly...

Nothing.

* * *

Forcing his eyes open, Mikey shoots upright in bed- wait, in bed?

Last he remembered was being in Dimension X again... how did he get there?... He grabs his head, feeling a headache coming on in his panicked confusion.

He grabs the nearest object- which happens to be a pillow, and holds it up threateningly to the opening door.

Donatello walks in, and brightens upon seeing him awake. He holds his hands up and waits for Mikey to lower the pillow before approaching. He sits down on the edge of the bed beside Mikey and touches his face gently.

“How are you feeling?” He asks quietly.

Mikey's head spins, and he blurts out the first thing he thinks. “Did you drug me?” He feels the panic rising in his chest, but Donnie starts rubbing his cheeks, and he can't help but melt into his touch.

“I did, I'm sorry.” He apologises. “You were having what looked to be a flashback. You were going to kill Leo, if given the chance.” Mikey feels the blood drain from his face.

“I tried to?...” He mutters, shocked. “I thought... It looked like I was back in Dimension X, fighting a Kraang bot.”

Donnie's cheek rubs continue as he kisses Mikey's head, causing the smaller turtle to break out in churrs. “I know, it's okay. I explained what was happening to Leo and the others; he's not mad or anything.”

_Leo simply sighs in disappointment._

Mikey flinches, and Donnie pulls back, a worried look on his face. “Mikey?”

There's a long silence, before Mikey grabs the sides of Donnie's plastron and tries to pull him closer. “Can you just... hold me, please?” He asks with a shaky voice, terrified that Donnie will push him away, or make a joke.

But Donnie does an unforeseen third option and scoots closer, hugging him tightly.

They stay like that for a while, in each others embrace, until Mikey hears footsteps approaching the lab and he freezes.

“Knock knock.” Comes a voice that Mikey recognises as Leo. Mikey and Donnie pull away and Leo approaches cautiously. “Not gonna jump on me again, are you?” He jokes, making Mikey laugh softly despite the awkwardness he feels.

“No, as long as you don't kick me again.” He counters, making Leo laugh and step closer. He looks up at Leo and then holds out his arms. Leo quickly scoops Mikey up into a strong hug.

This feels so much better than stupid dream Leo and co.

Mikey sniffs, and buries his face in Leo's shoulder. He knows they won't ask him about it yet, but he won't be able to avoid the conversation forever.

* * *

Mikey hates people being behind him, he doesn't know how to describe why, it just makes him extremely tense. It doesn't help that he almost got his head chopped off from behind, the scar is still there reminding him of a time he'd rather forget.

He rubs the back of his neck, running calloused fingers over the risen skin. He sighs heavily, dropping his hand back to his lap.

“Whoa, where'd you get that?” Mikey jumps out of his shell, looking behind him to see Casey staring at him with wide eyes. The others in the room look over at the two, and Mikey's eyes are wide in shock and.. anger?

“None of your business, Jones.”

“Hey, chill, I was just curious-” Casey tries to placate, but Mikey just stands up and growls, effectively shutting him up.

“Mikey.” Leo's voice sounds strained, and Mikey remembers losing control, _attacking_ him. He quickly sits back down, hands in his lap and his head hung as if he was being scolded. Leo sighs, and Mikey flinches at the noise.

Leo stands from his position on the floor, and joins Mikey on the couch, gesturing for Casey to go sit down. “Mikey,” Leo starts, taking his brother's left hand, “you don't have to if you really don't want to, but how _did_ you get that scar?”

Everyone is silent, waiting for an answer, or for Mikey to look up at them, but he doesn't.

No one makes a noise, until Leo sighs again and begins to move away.  
  
“Kraang bot got a lucky hit on me.” He whispers. “Nearly chopped my head off.” He runs his free hand over the scar again.

“Damn.” Raph huffs, looking to the floor.

“Luckily, I'm quicker than them, eh?” Mikey tries to play it off as no big deal, but no one takes the bait. His fake grin quickly falls and he squeezes Leo's hands. “Really guys, I'm fine. Stop looking so sad.”

“Mikey..” April starts, blinking to keep the tears at bay. “You just told us you nearly died in there. How are we supposed to feel happy about that?”

With a roll of his eyes and a huff, Mikey throws up his free arm. “Because I'm fine yo! I came back in one whole piece!” He says, exasperated.

“I think we all know that's not entirely true, Mikey.” Damn it Donnie, why can't you just leave well enough alone. Mikey looks back to the floor, avoiding their eyes.

He suddenly feels very trapped, cornered like he can't escape. He pulls away from Leo and stands quickly, rushing to the dojo with a murmur of something intelligible.

He can feel their eyes on him as he closes the sliding doors, but he can't help it.

He had to get away.

* * *

Groaning from the floor, Michelangelo is feeling very foolish. He had gotten his head all mixed up after a night of no sleep (thanks to nightmares) and tried to jump like he did in Dimension X.

He ended up falling flat on his face, and luckily his brothers weren't around to witness it.

“Oh my god, Mikey!” But sadly, April was.

(He's not sure who would actually be worse)

He groans again, and waits a second for his mind to catch up with his body once again. Then, he takes April's offered hands, and hoists himself up. He scratches the back of his head with an apologetic smile.

“Oops, sorry April. I sometimes forget that Earth's gravity is weird.” April finds this a bit odd, but chalks it up to Mikey being weird from Dimension X, and they continue on their run.

They came across a blocked tunnel, and April insisted on going around through a different tunnel, but Mikey just told her to stand back.

He started screaming a high pitch frequency at the collapsed tunnel, expecting it to move, but when it doesn't he remembers.

“Oh, right. Earth.” He almost sounds.. disappointed? April just smiles reassuringly at him and they keep going.

When they get back to the lair an hour or so later, Mikey starts going up to the bathroom when he hears April talking to his brothers.

“He tried jumping over a gap that was _way_ too big, and then he screamed at a collapsed tunnel! Like, what does that even _mean_?” She asks, and Mikey can imagine the incredulous look on her face.

“Hmm, well.. You remember what Donnie said, about Dimension X's time moving at a faster rate than ours. He was there for like, a couple hours at most.” Raph says, probably with his arms crossed.

“Right,” Starts Donatello, “but he also said a few weeks, which he just played off as a joke. What if he really was there for weeks, if not, months?”

“That would explain why he's acting so weird.” Leo agrees.

Casey chimes in. “And like, totally angry whenever we talk about his time in Dimension X! Did you see the look in his eyes when I asked about his neck scar? I thought he was gonna kill me on the spot until Leo cut in!”

Mikey winces at that. He didn't want his friends to be afraid of him, he just wanted a bit of privacy. They were bound to see the scars sooner or later, but Casey snuck up on him first!

He'd have to talk to them, but that meant that he'd have to tell them how long he was in there for, and he doesn't know if he can do that.

Whatever. He makes his way to the bathroom, trying to forget all about this little conversation.

* * *

_Opening his eyes, Michelangelo sits up. He's in Dimension X again._

“ _It was all a dream?” He cries, feeling so defeated. He sits on the floor behind that rock, just waiting for something – anything – to finish him off, or save him, or anything._

“ _We don't need you.” Comes Leo's voice, and Mikey tenses._

“ _I know, I_ know _I'm sorry please don't leave me here-” Mikey cries, sobbing into his hands._

“ _We don't need a crybaby on the team.” Says Donnie, making Mikey put his head down on the ground, tears falling onto the hard ground._

_The final straw is Raph's voice, “Who needs a screw-up anyway?”_

_Mikey screams._

Mikey wakes up silently, tears streaming down his face, senses on high alert as he looks around the dark room.

What? Dark?

Panic sets in. He runs to the door silently and swings it open, stepping into the lit hallway. His heart is pounding. He walks slowly towards the lab, where he can hear tinkering. He steps inside and sees Donnie still up, working on something probably to do with the Kraang power-cell.

He hangs just inside the doorway, just watching, until Donnie turns around to grab something and lets out a high-pitch shrill scream of bloody murder.

Mikey jumps out of his skin and ducks down, expecting to be hit by something.

“M-M-Mikey?” Donnie yelps, looking at his brother with wide, terrified eyes.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” He asks softly, before two sets of running feet come sprinting to the lab.

Leo and Raph run in, weapons at the ready, but stop when they just see Donnie. “What happened?” Leo asks.

“What'd ya scream for?” Raph growls, looking around the room.

Mikey steps out of the shadows with a sheepish look. “Sorry-” The two other turtles jump and turn to him with wide eyes- “I accidentally scared him.”

“Wh-where did you _come_ from?” Raph looks around, they're in the doorway so Mikey had to be in there before them, but how come they didn't notice him before?

“I was just standing here dude.” There's something about the way Mikey holds himself, no longer relaxed and carefree, he holds himself tall, and he looks taller too.. Mikey turns around and walks out without another word, he just waves.

He goes into the kitchen and stands at the bench.

He needs to get control over these crazy feelings, he's not going to fool anyone with the way he's acting right now.

“Mikey?” He looks over at his three brothers, Donatello is in front, looking concerned. “What... What happened to you in Dimension X?”

A tense, pregnant pause fills the air.

Mikey suddenly looks about ten years older, the haunted look in his eyes, the way he covers his left shoulder with his right hand, massaging the scar there. The back of his neck stings, but he knows it's not really in pain, it's just a reminder.

“Too much.” He breathes, his shoulders sagging.

“How... How...” Donnie shakes his head, looking for the right words. “How long?”

They see the way Mikey's eyes widen. He looks up at them, what appears to be fear in his eyes. Then they change, they look so sad, but no tears fill them.

Donatello walks closer, taking hold of his brother's hands. “Mikey. How long were you there for?”

And Mikey crumbles.

“God, Donnie.” He looks up into his brother's eyes. He pulls his hands out of Donnie's own and places them on his brother's cheeks. “God- I missed you so much.” He pulls his brother's head down and plants a kiss on his forehead.

They all watch in confusion, which seems to make Mikey smile for some odd reason. “You have no idea.” He says sadly, pulling away from Donatello. He shakes his head, curling his hands into fists as anger bubbles up inside of him. “Time went by normally for you. You were _together_ , you had people to _depend_ on..” His voice cracks and he turns away.

He puts his hands down on the bench as he tries to control himself.

“How. Long.”

Mikey sighs, defeated. “One year and five months.”

He hears the gasps, feels the pain radiating off of them. He hangs his head low. “I was alone for so long. So so alone. I thought you...” He laughs, looking back up at all of them with tear-filled eyes. “I thought you guys just left me there.”

“No- no. No way. Seriously?” Raph shakes his head, throwing his arms around his not-so baby brother. “We'd never do that to ya, no matter how annoying ya can be sometimes.”

Sobs break out of his throat, and he clings to Raph like a lifeline. Donnie and Leo come closer as well and wrap their arms around the two. It's seriously hard to wrap their heads around. Their baby brother is now their oldest brother? How weird is that.

But it doesn't matter right now. Mikey needs them, so they'll stay there, as long as he needs them.

* * *

Everyone is sitting in the pit together, including Sensei, April, and Casey. It's quiet, Raph is sitting on Mikey's left, and then Donnie and Leo are on Mikey's right.

“Whenever you're ready, little bro.” Raph encourages, an arm wrapped around Mikey's shell for comfort.

Mikey nods, and with some hesitation, begins the story. He tells them of how he jumped in alone, and after waiting hours, thought they'd left him there. He told them of being attacked – several times – and the little critter that saved his life.

He spoke of how he kept track of the date: by using his body clock. Donnie looked proudly at him when he told him of this. He tells them of the Kraang pit he made, where he stole stuff from the Kraang and kept it in a hole for Donnie at a later date.

He tells them of how many times he nearly dies, of the healing fruit, of the Rocktopus and how he came to use frequency on _everything._

It's a long explanation, one that leaves him breathless by the ending. He speaks gently of how his brothers show up, looking exactly as they did when this whole thing began. How they said it has only been seconds, but for Mikey it was so much longer.

He tells them how nightmares kept him up most nights, and that he'd been attacked in his sleep one-too-many times for him to be able to sleep well anymore.

He finishes the long winding tale by explaining each scar.

Left shoulder: Day one, hungry creature.

Back of neck: Day ninety-five, a Kraang bot.

Right knee-to-ankle: Day three-hundred and seventeen, the Rocktopus.

And so many others. Scars litter his body like a battlefield, and there's a story behind each one.

He finally lets his heart calm down, the feeling of Raph's hand rubbing gentle circles on his shell helps him greatly.

“Wow..” April says breathlessly.

“You went through all that...” Casey mutters, shaking his head in sadness for his friend.

“I need-” He cuts himself off, covering his mouth with both hands. Stupid mouth! Stupid brain! No more talking. Mikey talking = bad.

“What do you need?” Leo asks, kneeling down in front of him, trying to provide as much comfort as he can by holding his knees gently.

He shakes his head rapidly. He doesn't need anything! He's fine. He's fine. He's fine-

“Michelangelo.” Splinter breaks him from his thoughts, and he looks up at his father. “If there is something you need from us, please.” He gestures for Michelangelo to continue, and his stupid body betrays him and brings his hands back down.

“I need... to ask something big.” He says softly. “So I can understand if you can't do it but I- I....”

Everyone remains silent so Mikey can collect his thoughts, and then he begins speaking again. “I hate people walking up behind me, it sends me into fight or flight, and that's why I nearly lost it at Casey.” He explains, looking to his friend apologetically.

“Mikey, I'm so sorry, I had no idea..” Casey apologises, looking quite upset with himself, but Mikey just smiles.

“It's okay.. just try not to do it to me, because it took all of my willpower to not attack you.” He says, and watches the others around him nod. “Don't... touch me without warning. And don't scare me. Please.”

“Of course. Anything else?” Leo prompts, but Mikey just shakes his head. “Alright, but promise me you'll tell us about anything else that bothers you- okay?” Mikey nods quickly. Leo stands and pulls Mikey up into a hug. Donnie and Raph join, then April and Casey, and finally Splinter.

Mikey nearly bursts into tears right then and there. He feels so safe, in their arms.

“I love you guys.” He croaks, trying to rein in the tears.

“And we love you Mikey.” Donnie replies, nuzzling his brother's cheek.

Mikey giggles, and cuddles closer to them.

His family.

**Author's Note:**

> yes i realise Leatherhead like disappears halfway through, but tbh i forgot about him im sorry ily LH but it's currently 1am and i've been writing since this morning (with a 4hr shift in the middle of it) :,) i cannot go back and add him, so im sorry if you were here for LH&Mikey fluff cause it's nonexistent,,,,, <3


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